Whatever is moved, is moved by something…

Of old You laid the foundation of the earth. And the heavens are the works of Your hands. They will perish but You will endure; yes they will grow old like a garment; like a cloak they will be changed and You will change them. But You are the same and Your years have no end. – Psalm 102:25-27

This is the indomitable message of the prophets: God is above and will do what He pleases. He is in the history which He has made from nothing, and He will direct all things to His desired ends. There is no way round it. All flesh is grass and fading away, but His word is His power. It accomplishes whatever He sends it for. He is the mover that moves all things toward His goal. If we take offense at this it is because we fail to realize His goodness. It is merely a lack of trust in His end goal that throws us off at His total prospect. We cannot assume we could or would make history better without His leadership. It is His history, made on day one of creation and finalized when He finalizes it.

Fasting as worship…

Fasting is difficult. The difficulty is directly proportionate to the building up of the inner man. If it wasn’t difficult, there would be no payoff. This principle applies to every struggle in the Christian life. Beware: If there is no difficulty in your walk with Jesus, you may not actually be walking with Him.

King David would not offer a sacrifice unto the Lord which cost him nothing. Would we offer our lives to Christ if it costs us nothing? Is He not worthy of the pains of our sacrifice?

“All these, O King, Aranah has given to the King.” And Aranah said to the King, “May the Lord your God accept you.” Then the King said to Aranah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered a burnt offering and a peace offering. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land… 2 Samuel 24:23-25

A Christianity that costs nothing is worth nothing.

Prophetic burden… Judgment and Mercy

Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of My mouth; and your judgments are like light that goes forth. For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.  Hosea 6:5-6

Better to be slain by the words of God through the mouth of His prophets than to be killed in judgments unleashed from His hand. For His judgments, when loosed, are like light that dispels even the deepest darkness. If the prophets sound to us dramatic, harsh, emphatic, unyielding, or terrible it is because God desires to show and give mercy. To kill with words in order to heal the soul is more merciful than to kill with judgment before the soul can turn in repentance. He slays with words in order to allow mercy to have its perfect work before the judgment goes forth to shatter darkness. Hear and live.

God’s existence proven in the reason of our minds…

St. Anselm beautifully and succinctly summed up proof of God’s existence in this phrase: God is, That-Than-Which-Nothing-Greater-Can-Be-Thought. This concept is so simple that it’s easy to dismiss as a weightless argument for the existence of God. But thorough meditation on this concept lays a sturdy foundation for the Genesis 1 God.

Human reason is a powerful tool. Have you ever stopped to wonder at the fact that humanity as we know it is driven by one singular force? That force is the power of thought. Life flows steadily on based upon ideas. We know life is life because we can think about life, imagine it, and understand that we are in it. This bears massive implication when it comes to what we think about God.

The very idea of God proves His existence. Eternity is written upon the heart. The concept of God, That-Than-Which-Nothing-Greater-Can-Be-Thought, is as knit to God’s existence as existence is knit to the ability to think. For us to be able to think of a being that is above every other being implies that God exists and empowers our minds to conceive of a higher and greater reality, i.e. Him. If there were no God, we’d have no power in the mind to conceive of a god-like being. The very simple reason that we must believe in God is because we can imagine Him in our mind as That-Than-Which-Nothing-Greater-Can-Be-Thought.

My Bible study plan for 2011

You won’t study the bible consistently unless you consistently study the bible. Proverbial wisdom by Nate. I know I know, it sounds cliché and somewhat odd to plan out an entire years’ worth of bible study. However, I have found that without a clear vision of what I want to get from the Lord via His word, I won’t receive half as much as I could. And I want a lot from God. Mostly to be like Him, to love truth, humility, and righteousness, and to be prepared for the coming storm of judgment that will inevitably sweep many into tribulation, bitterness, and offense.

So here it is:

January-March = The prophets; Isaiah through Malachi reading ten chapters a day. Reading “The Living God” on the side and studying God’s names and character in the O.T. and the prophets.

April-July = The Gospels and the life of Jesus. Reading “The Word of Life” and “Four Portraits, One Jesus” on the side.

August-September = The Epistle to the Hebrews and reading “Life in the Spirit.”

October-December = The Psalms and reading “Recalling the Hope of Glory.”

Putting the cart before the horse; i.e. having a high vision…..

I’m on a fast. And today I got slammed with this verse: “If you have run with footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the thicket?” – Jeremiah 12:5

It’s amazing how spiritual you think you are until the Lord comes and shines more light on your heart. But His goal is not for us to be spiritual, it is to be renewed unto fullness. A little bit is good but it’s still not a lot.

I began this fast a while ago and I’ve hit a wall. To be honest though I thought I was doing pretty good until I read this verse. Essentially it’s like being flipped upside down. My spiritual stamina is waning, and the Lord reminds me that we aren’t even in the thick of things yet. Well, at least He’s honest.

We may grow by leaps and bounds in our inner man, yet come up far short of fullness. This verse is a reminder that when it comes to our relationship with God, His name is jealous jealousy. He wants all of us… not just the portions we are willing to give. Of course it has to start somewhere. The little I offer now is of utmost importance for later, but it still isn’t all of me… and that’s the goal now isn’t it!? You have to walk before you can run, but that’s not an excuse to set the bar at a mild jog. He still says run.